Art collector Seth Harris donated a boxed set of 100 unique 8x10 Polaroid prints signed on the back, reflected as an oversized bound volume (OBV) in the collection, to the Rose Library in 2015. The Rose Library purchased the rest of the collection from the creator, Len Prince, in 2015 and 2016. The purchase in 2015 consisted of eight prints of Jessie Mann, while the purchase in 2016 consisted of the bulk of the collection. Prior to transfer to the Rose Library, Prince organized the 2016 additions, sorting them and rehousing them into archival-quality containers. Curator of Modern, Historical and Political Collections, Randy Gue, and Accessioning and Collections Manager, Meaghan O'Riordan, packed the additions at Prince's residence in upstate New York and prepared them for shipment to the Rose Library. In 2018, Prakash Sethuraman shipped a portfolio of Prince's "Self Possessed: Jessie Mann Photographs," which he had purchased previously from Prince.

Restrictions on Access

Special restrictions apply: Collection stored off-site. Researchers must contact the Rose Library in advance to access this collection.

Use copies have not been made for audiovisual material in this collection. Researchers must contact the Rose Library at least two weeks in advance for access to these items. Collection restrictions, copyright limitations, or technical complications may hinder the Rose Library's ability to provide access to audiovisual material.

Access to processed born digital materials is only available in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
(the Rose Library). Use of the original digital media is restricted.

Due to the fragile nature of some of the material, some items are restricted pending conservation treatment. Researchers must contact the Rose Library at least two weeks in advance to request access to any files listed as restricted. Technical complications may hinder the Rose Library's ability to provide access to this material.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on
reproduction.

Curator of Modern, Historical and Political Collections, Randy Gue, acquired the collection as part of the Rose Library's holdings in contemporary photography and LGBT history. During processing in 2018, Rose Library staff removed and shredded a half a linear foot of duplicate materials and returned one foot of out of scope materials, to the creator. Appraisal decisions were made by Accessioning and Collections Manager, Meaghan O'Riordan, in consultation with Randy Gue.

Processing

The original accession was arranged and described at the item level by Sarah Quigley, 2015. These materials are housed in Box 111, folders 1-9; Box 136; and OBV1.

Significant additions were arranged and described at the file level by Meaghan O'Riordan, 2016-2018. During processing, archivists retained Prince's original file titles when available. Titles devised by Rose staff are indicated by square brackets. Rose staff also retained Prince's original filing system codes.

Born digital materials arranged and described by Brenna Edwards, 2019-2020. Born digital materials consist of photographs taken from
1 3.5" floppy disk, 3 optical discs, and 1 hard drive. Files range from 2000 to 2016.

Forensic disk images were created from the 3.5” floppy disk using Kryoflux, with the optical discs and hard drive
images being created with GuyMager. Individual files were extracted using
FTK Imager and scanned for viruses using McAfee’s anti-virus software; none were found. Duplicate files have been removed,
and files were scanned for personally identifiable information; none were found.

Len Prince developed a personalized filing system for his photographs that involved assigning alphanumeric codes that reflected the subject of the photos and the sequence in which they were taken. Archivists at the Rose Library retained this filing system. A sample indicator may look like: A001 where the A represents the subject dance (each letter of the alphabet was assigned to a particular subject, such as dance or theatre) and the numbers following the letter represent the number of the binder box in sequence that contained the negatives. This filing system was primarily used as a subject filing system. Some letters of the alphabet are missing, as are some numbers within letters. It is assumed that these were either never assigned or refiled elsewhere in the sequence.

Biographical Note

American photographer Len Prince (1953-) was born in Detroit, Michigan, and acquired his first camera at the age of nine from an S & H Green Stamps redemption center. In the early 1970s, Prince studied with Jerry Uelsmann at the School of Visual Arts (New York, New York). Prince's work has been featured in

Architectural Digest, Essence, Metrosource, PAPER, and Us Weekly, among many other publications. His work includes celebrity portraiture, fashion and advertising, nudes, still life, and cityscapes. Prince currently resides in upstate New York.
Scope and Content Note

The collection consists primarily of contact sheets and negatives with some Polaroid and silver gelatin prints of photographs by Len Prince from 1969-2016. Prince took a large number of celebrity images as part of his book project,

About Glamour (1997), meant to be "a collection of quadratone photographs of today's stars" to "evoke the elegant style of Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s." There are also images of male and female nudes depicting gay and lesbian sexuality; male and female nudes wearing African masks; and cityscapes of the New York City skyline. Additionally, materials include Prince's commercial work for companies, such as Estee Lauder and Cartier, and travel magazines.

There are prints from Prince's "Self Possessed" series, later published as a book by the same title, featuring Jessie Mann. Jessie Mann is the daughter of photographer Sally Mann. The "Self Possessed" series is part response to the controversy surrounding Sally Mann photographing her nude children and part homage to art and artists of the past; many of the photographs feature Jessie Mann dressed in clothing or positioned to recreate works of iconic artists, such as Cindy Sherman.

Prince exhibited the one man show, the Tampa Museum project. This was an art installation of models painted to appear as nude statues in the Tampa Museum of Art (Florida) in 1994. Prince was in New York City on the day of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 with only a Polaroid camera and documented the event from his hotel room. He was also able to visit the site for further documentary photography work. These materials are also included in the collection. Finally, there is professional correspondence and printed material featuring Prince's work.

Born digital materials include personal and professional photographs. Professional photographs include various editorial photoshoots,
theater photoshoots, and various celebrity portraits. There are also general portfolio photographs, as well as some website material.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by record type. Contact sheets and negatives are arranged in the order they were received from the donor. The remaining
material is arranged by title.

Born digital material kept in original order. Original file and folder names were kept.